It is one of the greatest joys of parenthood to watch your child learn, develop, and experience things for the first time. The capacity of such a little brain is amazing. Trey has a wonderful personality. Everyone that meets him notes how happy he is. Of course, everybody has their moments, but I do agree that he is a pretty happy little guy. Even when traveling for nearly 3 weeks straight, he did great. His smiles are definitely contagious. He plays the drums (with fairly good rhythm), makes silly faces, laughs uncontrollably, dances (especially when he wants to watch the muppets sing “menomena” on the computer), and spins around when either William or I return home.
Trey is hardly a baby anymore. He seems more like a little boy. He is now sleeping in a toddler bed (to avoid stunts such as crib jumping). That, however has brought on different challenges such as convincing him that it is good idea to stay in his bed and go to sleep at night. He’s starting to understand the function of the potty, but seems to tell us “poo,” while pointing to his diaper, after the fact instead of before. I know that he is fairly young according to American standards, but the sooner we are done with diapers, the better.
Trey is still a pretty tiny guy. In fact, on our trip around the southeast, I brought one of his 3-6 month sweater/hat sets and he still fit in it! At his last visit to the doctor in January, he was 23 lbs and 33 inches long. He’s got a pretty good appetite (most days) and is eating mostly table food, but loves the foods that he can ask for by name. Therefore, he eats lots of “cheeeeeeeeeese” and “ananas” (he skips the ‘b’ sound).
We know that he must be eating enough because this kid never stops. He is always on the move, always testing limits, running, climbing, pushing, pulling, drumming, sliding, exploring. He loves to climb up and down steps, and will anytime he gets a chance.
His vocabulary is expanding by the day. As a record, I’ve listed his words below. I’m probably forgetting a few, but this will give the idea. He can identify many animals, but instead of saying the name of animals, he just says the sound. Every time we see a bear or a lion in a book, he yells ROAR! (Even if I’m trying to calm him down with a bedtime story, if he sees a bear, he’s roaring).
It was great to be able to see so many friends and family on my interview trail, but it has been nice to be home. I know that my parents are especially happy to have him close by again.
I thank God for these 18 months with our little genius.
Trey’s Words:
Dadda / Daddy Mama Annie Peepaw Nana Jon (gone) yeah no all done please thank you more ok bye-bye hi hello phone |
ball snack cheese cake cracker cookie banana apple hot dog shoes “paci” head hat moon hot cold fish |
tomato milk water (ga ga) seat stroller car truck bus down up block nose ear eye toes feet sock |
“poo” diaper bubbles squirrel zebra hippo birdie plane night-night clock light teeth eat amen hallelujah knock knock “i’m a genius” (when prompted) |
animal sounds:
woof woof meow moo hee HAW HAW baa quack |
ooh aah aah (monkey) elephant sound roar (for lions and tigers and bears, oh my) cock-a-doodle doo bock bock (chickens) |
Everyone tells you how fast it goes but you don’t really understand until you have your own child. They are born helpless and needy and then you blink and boom they are running all over the place, laughing and talking and you just can’t believe your tiny baby is now a kid.